DayDayCook raises near $15 million for cooking video startup

By | 14 July, 2017

MEDIA startup DayDayCook announces it has raised CNY100 million (US$14.7 million) in their Series B round as part of their long-term strategy to expand into China.

The Hong Kong-based startup founder, Norma Chu, started it as a way to record and share her weekend cooking projects, reports South China Morning Post. The platform’s popularity is reflected in the 1.6 billion views it has garnered, and 1.6 million app downloads.

DayDayCook gives users access to 4,500 videos with step-by-step instructions on how to prepare and cook recipes. Source: Youtube

Some of the biggest names in Asian investing were part of the round, including Alibaba Group’s investment arm, Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, and businessman Adrian Cheng, whose previous work is largely rooted in the art world.

The Series B round follows the startup’s successful Series A+ round which raised CNY35 million (US$5.2 million), and a US$5 million Series A round that included 500 Startups, MFund and Heyi Capital.

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Chu has been looking for an edge to get her into China’s famously insular technology world. At this year’s RISE conference, she said when she embarked on the laborious hunt for investors, she was determined to find a Chinese renminbi fund that would help her find a foot in the door in the Chinese market. Her startup idea back in 2015 had the potential to go far because China did not have a similar kind of business.

“I wanted to also attract a popular or famous Chinese investor to invest in DayDayCook, to validate the business model itself,” she said, according to SCMP.

Today, DayDayCook has become a hit in the People’s Republic registering over 200 million views every month. Chu’s platform gives users access to 4,500 pieces of video content that teaches viewers how to cook recipes. The success of the platform has been helped by its social media footprint—Chu’s recipe’s can be accessed on Facebook, Youtube, and the popular messaging platform WeChat. China’s answer to Youtube, Youku, also stocks DayDayCook’s content.

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Evidently, the powerful multiplier effect of social media has spurred the success of the platform.

Aside from its how-to-cook video content, DayDayCook has spun off an e-commerce platform from which users can purchase sauces and cookbooks. There are plans to open a physical store in Shanghai alongside her investor, Cheng.



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